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Cultural Faux Pas

Can you figure out what is wrong?

You are on a conference call with your outsourcing team located in Bangalore, India, and you have just asked "who is responsible" for missing the deadline?" There is silence on the other end, and you ask again, this time in a louder voice.

You've flown across the Pacific for an important sales meeting with Japanese executives. During the discussions, you quote a price. Silence follows. When your Japanese counterparts don't respond, you quickly break the silence to reduce the price.

On a business trip to Hamburg, Germany, you're introduced to your German colleagues for the first time. You extend your hand to them, and say, "Just call me Jack."

While lunching with a potential client in France you immediately start talking about sales projections for the coming year.

Answers:Most U.S. businesspeople wouldn't be offended by any of these actions. Yet

the foreigners in these examples would view each incident as a faux pas.

To single out anyone for blame, especially in front of others, is not the way to build team morale or critical relationships with Indians.

By taking time to consider a proposal, Japanese executives believe they're demonstrating sincerity.

Unlike many Americans, they also feel comfortable with silence.

Germans prefer formality. To immediately ask German executives to call you by your first name is considered rude.

The French like to concentrate on the eating experience, reserving business discussion until after dessert, or "contra le poire and le fromage." (Between the pear and the cheese.)

Resources for Learning:

See theTips for Global Business Travelersbelow

For country specific do's and don'ts, order Sondra Sen'sInternational Business Interacts by country.